PROUST, Marcel. Two autograph letters signed to Lucien Daudet, both n.p. [Paris], the first n.d. [soon after 4 August 1917], addressing it to him at the 'front', and [in an unpublished passage of 22 lines] referring to Lucien's remark about the sadness ('La mélancolie') for a son of having a mother who inevitably is much older than himself; remarking on Madame Daudet's extraordinary youthfulness, 'Il y a q.q.chose de bien plus frappant que l'invraisemblable jeunesse de Madame Daudet, ou plutôt, car cette jeunesse n'a rien que du merveilleusement naturel étant un accord de l'âme, du corps, et de l'ésprit, mais à cause des dates invraisemblables que tu me cites (et d'ailleurs la medécine elle-même ne prouve-t-elle pas que la chronologie n'a rien à voir avec l'age)'; and then worrying that he may have tired her by staying on too long after the dinner for [Francis] Jammes; also referring to his attempts to see Clary and mentioning other friends, 7 pages, 8vo; the second n.d. [October-November 1917], declaring that he is so unwell that he cannot write, meaning this not in the literary sense ('hélas; cela je n'en suis plus jamais capable'), but even a letter; then [in an unpublished passage of 12 lines] refuting something Lucien has said about being unloved, 'tu es vraiment bien fou de croire que tu n'as jamais été aimé, si tu le crois (?). La seule exception que tu cites (N.G.) (j'avais d'abord lu M.G.) m'a intrigué, puis j'ai craint de comprendre. Après tout ce n'est pas plus mal qu'autre chose, mais tu as eu mieux'; describing his only recent excursion, 'j'ai vu les gens les plus étranges ou plutôt les plus insignificants mais exhumés d'un oubli de tant d'années', and relaying some gossip about Madame Germain's avarice and similar tales; reminiscing about Dumas père's use of his only word of Latin, repeating what the Marquise de Noailles said on hearing of a proposal for tax on the benefices of war, and mentioning other acquaintances, 4 pages, 8vo (including on the 4th page the opening of a letter to someone else, 'Cher Henri' and 4 words cancelled in ink, the 2 letters together 11 pages, 8vo).Lucien's mother, Julia Daudet, was now over seventy and lived to be almost ninety-seven. Although he writes so delicately of her here, on first meeting her Proust referred to her rather dismissively ('charmante mais combien bourgeoise').In the teasing passage in the second letter about one of Lucien's amorous friendships, Proust refers to the unidentified 'N.G.' 'qui je pense n'est pas Ninette Ganderax' [a joke about the wife of the editor of the Revue de Paris]. 'M.G.' ['mauvais genre'] as used here is intended to convey suspicion of homosexuality.Daudet suppressed most of the names in the letters and references to himself. Kolb, XVI, 204 and 263; Cahiers, V (XLV and XLVI). (2)

PROUST, Marcel. Two autograph letters signed to Lucien Daudet, both n.p. [Paris], the first n.d. [soon after 4 August 1917], addressing it to him at the 'front', and [in an unpublished passage of 22 lines] referring to Lucien's remark about the sadness ('La mélancolie') for a son of having a mother who inevitably is much older than himself; remarking on Madame Daudet's extraordinary youthfulness, 'Il y a q.q.chose de bien plus frappant que l'invraisemblable jeunesse de Madame Daudet, ou plutôt, car cette jeunesse n'a rien que du merveilleusement naturel étant un accord de l'âme, du corps, et de l'ésprit, mais à cause des dates invraisemblables que tu me cites (et d'ailleurs la medécine elle-même ne prouve-t-elle pas que la chronologie n'a rien à voir avec l'age)'; and then worrying that he may have tired her by staying on too long after the dinner for [Francis] Jammes; also referring to his attempts to see Clary and mentioning other friends, 7 pages, 8vo; the second n.d. [October-November 1917], declaring that he is so unwell that he cannot write, meaning this not in the literary sense ('hélas; cela je n'en suis plus jamais capable'), but even a letter; then [in an unpublished passage of 12 lines] refuting something Lucien has said about being unloved, 'tu es vraiment bien fou de croire que tu n'as jamais été aimé, si tu le crois (?). La seule exception que tu cites (N.G.) (j'avais d'abord lu M.G.) m'a intrigué, puis j'ai craint de comprendre. Après tout ce n'est pas plus mal qu'autre chose, mais tu as eu mieux'; describing his only recent excursion, 'j'ai vu les gens les plus étranges ou plutôt les plus insignificants mais exhumés d'un oubli de tant d'années', and relaying some gossip about Madame Germain's avarice and similar tales; reminiscing about Dumas père's use of his only word of Latin, repeating what the Marquise de Noailles said on hearing of a proposal for tax on the benefices of war, and mentioning other acquaintances, 4 pages, 8vo (including on the 4th page the opening of a letter to someone else, 'Cher Henri' and 4 words cancelled in ink, the 2 letters together 11 pages, 8vo). Lucien's mother, Julia Daudet, was now over seventy and lived to be almost ninety-seven. Although he writes so delicately of her here, on first meeting her Proust referred to her rather dismissively ('charmante mais combien bourgeoise'). In the teasing passage in the second letter about one of Lucien's amorous friendships, Proust refers to the unidentified 'N.G.' 'qui je pense n'est pas Ninette Ganderax' [a joke about the wife of the editor of the Revue de Paris]. 'M.G.' ['mauvais genre'] as used here is intended to convey suspicion of homosexuality. Daudet suppressed most of the names in the letters and references to himself. Kolb, XVI, 204 and 263; Cahiers, V (XLV and XLVI). (2)

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PROUST, Marcel. Two autograph letters signed to Lucien Daudet, both n.p. [Paris], the first n.d. [soon after 4 August 1917], addressing it to him at the 'front', and [in an unpublished passage of 22 lines] referring to Lucien's remark about the sadness ('La mélancolie') for a son of having a mother who inevitably is much older than himself; remarking on Madame Daudet's extraordinary youthfulness, 'Il y a q.q.chose de bien plus frappant que l'invraisemblable jeunesse de Madame Daudet, ou plutôt, car cette jeunesse n'a rien que du merveilleusement naturel étant un accord de l'âme, du corps, et de l'ésprit, mais à cause des dates invraisemblables que tu me cites (et d'ailleurs la medécine elle-même ne prouve-t-elle pas que la chronologie n'a rien à voir avec l'age)'; and then worrying that he may have tired her by staying on too long after the dinner for [Francis] Jammes; also referring to his attempts to see Clary and mentioning other friends, 7 pages, 8vo; the second n.d. [October-November 1917], declaring that he is so unwell that he cannot write, meaning this not in the literary sense ('hélas; cela je n'en suis plus jamais capable'), but even a letter; then [in an unpublished passage of 12 lines] refuting something Lucien has said about being unloved, 'tu es vraiment bien fou de croire que tu n'as jamais été aimé, si tu le crois (?). La seule exception que tu cites (N.G.) (j'avais d'abord lu M.G.) m'a intrigué, puis j'ai craint de comprendre. Après tout ce n'est pas plus mal qu'autre chose, mais tu as eu mieux'; describing his only recent excursion, 'j'ai vu les gens les plus étranges ou plutôt les plus insignificants mais exhumés d'un oubli de tant d'années', and relaying some gossip about Madame Germain's avarice and similar tales; reminiscing about Dumas père's use of his only word of Latin, repeating what the Marquise de Noailles said on hearing of a proposal for tax on the benefices of war, and mentioning other acquaintances, 4 pages, 8vo (including on the 4th page the opening of a letter to someone else, 'Cher Henri' and 4 words cancelled in ink, the 2 letters together 11 pages, 8vo).

Lucien's mother, Julia Daudet, was now over seventy and lived to be almost ninety-seven. Although he writes so delicately of her here, on first meeting her Proust referred to her rather dismissively ('charmante mais combien bourgeoise').

In the teasing passage in the second letter about one of Lucien's amorous friendships, Proust refers to the unidentified 'N.G.' 'qui je pense n'est pas Ninette Ganderax' [a joke about the wife of the editor of the Revue de Paris]. 'M.G.' ['mauvais genre'] as used here is intended to convey suspicion of homosexuality.

Daudet suppressed most of the names in the letters and references to himself. Kolb, XVI, 204 and 263; Cahiers, V (XLV and XLVI). (2)

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